


Hunger

by DreadfulShieldmaiden



Category: Batman (Movies - Nolan), Batman - All Media Types, Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (2020), Joker (2019), Suicide Squad (2016)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-12
Updated: 2020-02-26
Packaged: 2021-01-29 12:06:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 7,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21409915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DreadfulShieldmaiden/pseuds/DreadfulShieldmaiden
Summary: Quinzel accepts the Arthur Fleck case. Madness follows.
Relationships: Arthur Fleck/Harleen Quinzel, Arthur Fleck/Harley Quinn, Arthur Fleck/Original Female Character(s), Arthur Fleck/You, Joker (DCU)/Harleen Quinzel, Sophie Dumond & Arthur Fleck
Comments: 6
Kudos: 64





	1. Crane

Quinzel took the patient’s file cautiously.

“You know, I trust you”, Crane says, with his burning blue eyes starring deeply into her.

“I’ve heard he has hurt some of the other psychiatrists.”

Crane smiled, but his eyes remained dry and focused on her.

“People might have been exaggerating on their tales. Yes, there were events.”, Quinzel noticed his pause, maybe a sign that he was choosing carefully his words. “Some people were hurt. But I believe you are a highly qualified professional, you undergrad curriculum and grad school performance are admirable.” He smiled again, a calculated act to establish a bound of friendship and trust between them.

Harleen smiled back, profoundly aware of the energy spent in Crane’s speech to make her comfortable and not afraid of accepting treating Arthur Fleck (or the “Clown Prince”, as Gotham’s tabloids named him). Quinzel had recently graduated from the University of California, after taking her masters on forensic psychology. During her undergrad course and grad research, she had been investigating mental illness and crimes against women. She had successfully helped some investigators on catching a serial killer, giving them clues about his possible mindset. Then, she was invited to leave her sunny and dear California to work on the dark and rainy Gotham city. Apparently, because of this misterious guy, Arthur Fleck.

Harleen researched about him. Fleck seemed to be the result of his miserable familiar history, state abandonment and subalternized working conditions. The interesting element, though, was the Joker. Quinzel got intrigued about this persona. A thousand possibilities rushed around his mind. Was the Joker a persona that emerged out of Arthur’s mind as a result of his mental breakdown? Quinzel had read about a woman that had more than one hundred personalities that she managed to create to survive her father’s sexual abuse. It was an extreme case, but, you know, one never knows what the mind is capable to protect itself.

She took the job. But her arrival on Gotham revealed scarier details about Fleck’s imprisonment on Arkham. She heard about her working fellows which were injured by him. The expression “severely wounded” got to her ears and she decided to speak with Dr. Crane, Arkham’s current director. Crane was blissfully beautiful. But there was something unsettling about him. His eyes, maybe? _Too blue, _she thought.

“I am going to study Fleck’s file” she said, calmly, but firmly. “And I want to do some observation, maybe also trying a pilot section with him. Would it be okay?”

“Sure” Crane smile again, that heartless and soulless lip stretching of his. “We are happy to welcome any methodology that would help this, you know, _very specific _case.”

Quinzel smiled back.

“Thank you so much”, she replied, trying to collect confidence. “Can I spy on him a bit?”

“He’s all yours”, Craine said.

He took her to the heavy door. Through the meshed square crack on it, she saw a wan male figure on a white straightjacket. He was lying on the floor. He seemed to be worthy of pity.

She couldn’t figure him killing people and starting a rebellion. 

“He seems so vulnerable.” She said, touched by Arthur’s condition. 

“The worst predators wear the best disguises” Crane said 

Quinzel shivered.


	2. Quid pro Quo, Clarice

_“Orion is above the horizon now, and near it Jupiter, brighter than it will ever be ... But i expect you can see it too. Some of our stars are the same, Clarice.”_

_― Thomas Harris, The Silence of the Lambs_

The rain was awful. Harleen took some time to arrive on Arkham because of the chaos that reigned on Gotham due to the storm. After a few days of deep study on Fleck’s file and the Joker (the reason _why _the Clown Prince came to life the way it did were become an obsessive topic inside Quinzel’s thoughts), she decided to have her first pilot section with Arthur. She always thought of him by his first name, _Arthur_. One of her professors taught her that addressing patients by the first name worked to establish a positive emotional connection. She decided to treat him by his first name, and it helped her to diminish the subtle fear that lingered inside her mind when she thought about him.

She entered Arkham, noticing how the big beige structure of the Asylum and its arches resembled the old Goth cathedrals. Its insides were very similar too. The white lights intensified the lead gray spread through walls, electronic devices, and doors.

_It’s like no color can survive here_. Quinzel thought, inside the elevator.

She was in the interview room. There were three security guards with her. The Asylum helpers bought him, this fragile, broken body to her. They put him into the chair in front of her.

“Arthur, hello.” Harleen said, with a big, welcoming smile. “I was really anxious to meet you. My name is Harleen Quinzel. I’m your new psychologist.”

He looked at her. His big blue-green eyes seemed to stare at nothing. He did not answer.

“Well, I can talk about myself.” Quinzel knew it was risky to stimulate him through giving personal data, but she was willing to try. “I am 25 years old. I am not from Gotham. I’ve come here because of you.” She smiled.

Then, something changed. His eyes focused. The iris changed its size and he seemed to be completely aware of her presence.

“Because of me?”

“Yes. Crane thought I could help you.”

“Maybe he just sent you because he was not willing to try himself. He sent some other lamb to the sacrifice, instead”, Arthur smiled in an uncanny way.

He got a bit under her skin. She shivered, but managed to keep the welcoming smile to him.

“Maybe. But then he gave me the pleasure of meeting you.” She blinked, playfully. “Do you want my help, Arthur? Can we start this week, our conversations?”

He paused before answering. He looked to the ground. Then, he looked to her.

“Yes, miss Quinn. I want to know you.”

Harleen smiled back.

“Then, let’s get started.”


	3. Strike, dear mistress, and cure his heart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo, first chapter that I did not write on a fucking hurry in a pause on my working environment. I want to thank you guys who are reading it! It was first and mostly driven by my desire to see Phoenix and Margot Robbie together. They have a great chemestry. I hope Todd Philips invites her to a possible Joker sequel. After that, I think it is kind of a therapeutic writing because I do am in love with someone I probably will never have and some of the feeling I just put on the writing. He's an amazing person, nothing like the Joker, be calm. Also, Joker's Arthur and Robbie's Quinzel bring me back some of the Clarice/Hannibal chemestry, which I use as an inspiration. I hope you guys like this chapter. And, yes, smut is coming in the nearby future.

Quinzel was lying on her bedroom, starring at the ceiling. She was profoundly pleased with the results of the sessions with Arthur. Some of them kept coming over her mind, while she was out of Arkham. Crane and the rest of the crew were impressed. They were also pleased, there was almost one month - since Harleen had arrived - that Arthur did not have his bursts of violence against himself or against other people. 

  
"You know, Harls, I think you might be falling love with this freak" said Pamela Isley, her roomate, a brilliant botanist from Gotham which accepted Harley on her apartment to share the costs of living in a huge metropolis. 

Harleen looked at Pamela, leaning on the door's threshold.

"Don't be silly, Pam." she replied.

"I mean, every time you come after these sessions with him, it feels like you are in other world."

Harleen laughed.

"I think few people can really understand, Pam."

"Try me" 

"You know, I always questioned myself, where did the Joker come from." Harls told her roomate, the excitement pounding on her voice "And when I started, that was what I had as a focus. The Joker. But somehow, I reached Arthur. You know, the man, the clown, the amateur comedian. And getting to know him... Ended up to be more exciting than knowing or explaining the world why the Joker came to life."

"Harls, be careful. You are amazing, brilliant. It is great that you've reached the man, maybe the last bit of sanity inside that body. But, you see, the Joker is there. Somewhere there. Just, you know, be careful."

"I am careful, Pam. Thank you for caring." Harleen smiled.

Pamela smiled back and went to the kitchen. Harleen went back to her thoughts, a little bothered because she had lied to Pam. She was not really being careful. She had given more personal data to Arthur than she should have. She felt guilt, but she couldn't help it. It felt like the conversations were magnetic and that she couldn't really hide anything from him. She felt he couldn't hide anything from her, either. 

Pamela was right. She must be careful. 

-

Except that she could not remember it during the next session.

"Quinn, always a pleasure to see you." said Arthur, with his low pitched yet intense voice. 

"Arthur, how are you doing?" 

"Better than before you were here." he said, she blushed a little. 

_ Don't behave like a teenager. He's your fucking patient. _

"Remember our last session? You told me you were feeling like talking about Penny." 

Something on his deep green eyes shifted.

"Only if you teel me about your family, Quinn" he said "_Quid pro quo_"

"There is nothing really interesting about my family." 

"Except, there is. If it wasn't, you wouldn't be avoing the subject."

_Be careful, Harls_. Pam's voice returned to her in full force.

"I think that being a psychologist and helping people is the way I have to try to understand myself and my family." she said, the words rushing even if one part of her mind told her she should take the conversation in other direction, because, fuck, she was the one in charge.   


"What were they like?"

"Loving at first. Then, during my teenager years, my father became a drunk. My mother used to be beaten by him. I heard it all in my room." her voice was shaking, a little. She hid her hands underneath the table so he could not see they were shaking too.

"Penny was loving too. Except when she met this man. You know, he was fat and bold. Like an orc. He used to beat her. I watched it." he talked in a dreamy way, almost like he was detached from these memories. Harleen noticed it was his protective tool. First, he blocked it. Then, he got to it like if it were someone else's memories, not his. "Then, he started to beat him, the little kid."

"How this kid must have felt, Arthur?" Quinzel asked, starring him deeply.

"How did it feel when you were upstairs on your room listening to your father beat the shit out of your mother?" he asked back, starring deeply inside her blue eyes.

"I felt guilt." She answered, honestly "I felt like I was causing it. I was the one responsible for all the pain. It felt like I was the most dreadful creature on Earth". For a moment, the memories took her on waves. The sounds of violence - the screamings, the crying, the breaking of things - got to a young Harleen, lying on her bed on a fetal position. 

"There you have your answer", Arthur said, with a sad smile.

-

_Whiplash girl child in the dark_   
_Comes in bells, your servant, don't forsake him_   
_Strike, dear mistress, and cure his heart _   
  
_She was in the middle of a destroyed Gotham. There were fires all over the cities. She heard people on the distance, screaming "FASCIST WAYNE IS TO BLAME". _

  
_But somehow - and for that reason she knew it was a dream - Venus in Fur by Velvet Underground was playing loudly. She used to listen to the Velvet Underground when her father spanked her mother, the loud music drowing her pain away. She had her working clothes. But it was all dirty with ashes. She looked around herself, looking for help._   
_Then, Arthur emerged from the darkness. He was wearing his simple clothes, like those from the pics by the police that she found on his file, and he had a single deep red rose on his hand. He gave it to her and took her into a slow dance._

  
_The whole world seemed to be burning around them, but it did not matter, because they were dancing the Venus in Furs._

_Harleen lays her head down on his chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart. She closed her eyes. Absolute peace took over her being._

_When she opened her eyes again, she was dancing with the Joker._

_"Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?" - the Joker asked, laughing his scary laughter. _

Harleen woke up screaming. 


	4. His name is Carnival

_Without a thought of size_

_You come to hypnotize_

_The danger_

_The world that comes apart_

_Has no single heart_

_When life is stranger_

Quinn was like a ray of light.

After the Joker killed Munray on TV, the body of the man named Arthur Fleck has been occupied by a destroyed mind. He wasn’t the Joker and he wasn’t Arthur. He was somewhere in between, living on the borderlands of insanity and pain. This pain requested him to make the world suffer too. Penny was lying when she told him that he would bring joy to the world, she was mocking him. He had to bring them pain. They had to pay.

He had managed to hurt badly one of his psychiatrists, the Black woman, the other he managed to throw himself over the guy and bite him almost getting to his neck (he would have got to it, if it were not for the guards). After the second one, Crane stopped sending them for a while.

Then, there was Quinn.

Something about her, the way she talked to him, the way she presented herself to him, it made him feel _special_. It made him feel like a human being. Slowly, it felt like Arthur was taking possession of his mind and body again. He did not feel like a thing, a trapped thing. He actually felt like he could make sense of his life again. She made him feel like he could be loved, like he could be cured of this hunger that followed him. The hunger for true love and acceptance. Neither Penny could love him nor Sophie. But he felt like Quinn could love him.

-

She seemed to be very tense on this session. Her eyes were a bit red, like if she had been smoking weed or if as she had not been sleeping well.

“Are you okay, Quinn?” he asked.

“I had bad dreams.”, she answered, looking through him, it seemed like if her mind was wandering away.

“You know what helps?” he asked.

“What?”

“Dancing.”

She chuckled.

“I’ve been an aerialist for years, you know. I had this weird dream of running away with the circus.” She said. She sounded dreamy and unaware of herself. Like a scared little girl. “But I don’t know how to dance, I’m sorry, Arthur.”

“I can teach you.”

Quinn laughed.

“We do not have music.”

“I can sing. I used to, when I worked as a clown in the streets.”

He did not wait for her answer and got up from his seat. She seemed to freeze. He could read surprise on her face. But, gladly for him, he did not see fear.

“If you don’t mind dancing with a man in a straightjacket.”, he said, smiling. 

She seemed to get back from her stupor.

“Okay, Arthur, we can dance.”

She embraced him, her arms holding over the straightjacket and her head leaning on his chest.

“_That's life (that's life) that's what people say…”_, Arthur whispered calmly on her ear, feeling her breathing slow down.

He felt such a peace that he wouldn’t mind if the world ended on that moment. 


	5. Freak

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was supposed to be a longer chapter, but I really liked the ending. I think the next is coming very soon, though =)  
(Yes, Cillian Murphy will always be my Jonathan Crane, you can blame Nolan)

_Baby, if you wanna leave_

_Come to California, be a freak like me, too_

_Screw your anonymity_

_Loving me is all you need to feel_

_Like I do_

“You know, he could have killed you”, Crane said, starring at her with a very serious facial expression. Quinzel was focused on the low quality footage of Arthur’s room, in which both of them were dancing.

_We look like two love birds, _she thought, randomly.

Since the _Venus in Furs _dream, something had changed inside her. She knew that dreams were not just senseless fantasies. Besides the connections with the part of the mind that we are not able to contact while awake, some neurologists even believed that they could be warnings about the future.

Quinzel also knew that the dream had happened because she had let Arthur sink into her skin. Their previous month and session had been great. But they were mainly focused on Arthur’s feeling after killing Munray, his hatred for Arkham and its crew and the reconstruction of consciousness after the ‘big Joker takeover’ (she had labeled the clown riot and the TV killing like that).

During these moments, she also talked about herself. But she did it in a shallow, easy way. She talked about how she hated Gotham’s weather, about her general hobbies, about what she studied. But the last session – right after Pamela’s advice –, changed it all. She felt they needed to get into the Penny’s subject so she could really help Arthur while restoring his sanity (or at least, diminishing the Joker’s damage).

Harleen felt that it was worthy giving some pieces of her so she could get some of him. But their connection (_falling in love with that freak_, Isley’s voice echoed on her mind) was stronger than she thought). The day after the dream, she was really out of her right mind. Dancing with him just felt like the natural thing to do. She was guided by her impulse. When it was over, she didn’t feel scared or attacked. She felt warm and safe with him.

“Miss Quinzel, I am waiting for explanations.”, Crane called her again, taking her thoughts away from the moments of the last few days.

“It was a difficult day, I believe that it was the reason I let this happen.”

“You believe that being with Arthur is affecting you?”

“I did not say that, mister Crane”

“You had wonderful results. We are all impressed. But this was really dangerous. He could have killed you.”

“It was a mistake. It won’t happen again.”

“I don’t know, miss Quinzel. I’m thinking about suspending your sessions with this patient.”

Harleen panicked a little.

“No. Please. Don’t do it.” She said, in a hurry. Then, she remembered her tools to get the high school boys doing what she wanted to. “I’d do _anything _to keep up with him.”, while saying that, she touched Crane’s fingers over the table, massaging them a little.

Crane smirked to her, full of intentions.

“You did what?” Isley questioned her.

“I invited Crane to go on a date today” Harleen answered, searching for her sexy clothes on her closet.

“And the purpose is?”

“Pamela, he is beautiful, you know.”

“The last time we talked about him, the words _creepy _and _bit scary _came out of your mouth, Quinzel”

“He’s all of that, but he has this sexy charm all over him.”

“Are you going to fuck this man just to keep the sessions with Arthur?”

“Oh my God, Pamela!”

“I mean, we all know that’s what this is about”

“Okay, I might be using not ethical resources to guarantee the safety of my patient. But I don’t know if the word _fuck _needs to be used.”

“Harls, you are getting so submerged in all of this. I mean you were dancing with a maniac. And this is not justifiable. You’ve put yourself in a unthinkable danger. Now, to keep seeing this freak you’re fucking your creepy boss. Girl, just stop.”

Harleen really loved how Pamela never bothered to be true and speak her mind to her.

“Pamela, this freak has a name, and it’s _Arthur” _she remarked to her friend. “And yes, I’ve got into this deep mess. I know it’s my fault. But if Crane takes me out of Arthur’s live, it might be worse for everyone.”

“I don’t know how much _worse _it can get” 

“And you know, Crane is beautiful. He’s hot. Fucking him wouldn’t hurt.” Harleen says, with a sassy, sexy smile.

“Sometimes you look like a Harley Quinn more than a Harleen Quinzel”, Pamela said, smiling back. “But take care of yourself. I don’t want to create some mutant carnivorous plant to save you”

Harleen couldn’t deny that she felt a bit thrilled, waiting Crane to finish his ordering. She was wearing in a long sexy Black dress, one of the truly fancy clothes she had got. The conversation with Pamela stuck with her. She had been feeling attracted by him, even if, yes, Crane scared her a little. But he was very sexy. And if getting laid by him was the price to keep treating Arthur, she was willing to pay.

She looked around, analyzing the place. Crane said it was from an old friend of his, Maroni. Quinzel suspected the guy was involved with mafia or something, but Crane insisted and she agreed.

Crane was really sexy, wearing a black suit and tie. He finished his order and looked at her, his blue eyes focusing on her as a wolf hunting a rabbit.

“You look stunning today.” Crane greeted her, with a smile.

“So do you.”

“I am glad we have this more comfortable environment to discuss Arthur’s topic.”, he said, placing a hand on her thigh and caressing it over the dress.

“Are you willing to let me stay with Arthur?”, she asked.

“It depends on you and what you are willing to do in order to stay with him.”

She caressed his hand above her thigh. The wine was being served.

“The Bamonte’s has the best wine on Gotham City”, Crane said “I think we are going to enjoy it.”

Harleen sucked Crane’s cock, exactly the way she did with the boys on high school. His hand held her hair firmly, while senseless noises came out of his mouth.

She paused the blowjob and looked to him. When she starred, she did not see Crane’s face, but, for a single, intense second, it was Arthur’s and his burning green-blue eyes that starred her back, burning with immense passion and desire.

_You’re in love with that freak_, Isley’s voice came back to her, resoundingly.


	6. Dazed and Confused

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fic "Bird of Prey" by Sif just got me on the tracks of inspiration again, also "The Silence of the Lambs" has inspired me heavily. I think that the fic will get real violent from now on, so expect and be warned that there'll be some triggers.

Arthur

Crane starred at him, smirking.

“That little girl of yours, Harleen, she is _insane_ on the bed”.

Arthur was sitting on the corner of his cell, trying to make sense out of Crane’s word.

“You know that she fucked me. Yesterday, she did it. All night long.”

Arthur pictured his miss Quinn, her sweet eyes, beautiful mouth and perfect young, sultry body, using all that to please that disgusting monster that kept him in a subhuman condition on that jail.

“But you know that she did it so she could stay with you. I was going to tear you guys apart after that little dance of yours.” Crane smiled “But then she said she would do anything to stay with you. And she did. All night long. And it’s all your fault, Arthur. Blame yourself.”

Arthur couldn’t help but being invaded by images of Crane fucking Quinn. _His _Quinn. Angry boiled underneath his skin and fulfilled his mind as a red veil, washing everything with full strength and taking him on its full force. He knew what would come after.

“CRANE.YOU.FUCKERRR!” he screamed, his body convulsing in hate. The uncontrollable laughter that marked his profound distress took over. He started to laugh maniacally, while figuring ways to kill Crane using a set of diverse methods.

Crane laughed, rashly, without humor, his blue eyes delighting on Arthur’s pain. He knew the Joker was going to take over.

Maybe little miss Quinzel wouldn’t be able to help this time. It would be all her fault. He could show the footage of the dancing to the world, send Harleen away and then he could profit on the results of the advancing she did with Arthur as being his own.

_What a pity. Such a good fucker. _Crane thought, watching Arthur burst out in a wild, scary laughing.

Harleen

“How was it?” Isley asked.

“Doing Crane? It was really good, actually.”

“But it would obviously be better if it was your little freak, right?”

Harleen didn’t answer. She just sighed, looking to her cup of tea. They were at the kitchen’s table, enjoying an after lunch break. It was one of the few days that both her and Pamela were in the house during the afternoon, it was Pam’s day off from Gotham City’s Central Laboratory and also Harleen’s break up from Arkham.

“He was very intense. And he agreed with my terms, so it was all right.”

“No kissing?”

Harleen laughed.

“I’m not on the _Pretty Woman _level yet, girl, be calm.”

Pamela giggled.

“Staying with Arthur.” Harleen clarified “He was clear we couldn’t touch again. But we’ll be together, at least.”

“Well, if it was worth it, okay. I hope this guy doesn’t play the creep harassing boss at work with you.”, Pamela said, true worry all over her voice.

“I hope too”

Their house’s telephone ringed and Pamela went over to answer, quickly. She was waiting for an answer on being sponsored by Wayne Enterprises with extra money for her research, so she has been answering phone calls all day.

“Hello, can I help? Yeah, she is here. Wait a minute.” Pamela said, turning to Harley and pointing to the phone.

“Hello, Harleen here.” She said “What? How did this happen? When? Yesterday night! And you guys call me to tell it just now?” Pamela worried over Harleen’s reaction, getting closer to her and landing a calming hand on her shoulder. “I don’t know if the police will help me now, it’s _Arthur’s safety _you should worry about!”, she was just one tone from yelling. She turn over the phone, trembling.

“Hey, Harls, what’s up?” Pamela asked.

“Arthur escaped Arkham. Last night. Killed someone.”. Harleen said, falling on the couch, her body shaking and weak.

Joker

Joker was released. It was like he had forced to sleep for many days. That body _belonged to him_, not to that weak man Arthur. Somehow the idiot took control. But then he saw the moment and he lounged on it.

_He had to escape. _He had to be released. He had to fulfill his mission and bring destruction to this world. He had to pay back the pain. The way to do it was the real question for him.

The straightjacket was hell. It restrained his options and courses of action. But he knew there was a moment he could do it.

The nurse man came with his dinner. Joker stopped his laughing and reproduced Arthur’s passive behavior. When the guy was close enough, bending his chest to leave Arthur’s food near to the ground, he jumped over him, just like he did with that other stupid motherfucker.

“Now listen, asshole. You will take this straightjacket out of me. And give me your clothes. I will let you live. But you only scream for help when I’m away from here. Or I’ll come back and kill you with this fork. I will take your eye out and I will nail it on your fucking neck and you’ll bleed to death.”, the Joker’s homicidal look told the guy that this was serious.

“I’ll do as you say!” he said, praying for his life.

“Good!”

After the man gave his clothes and the keys he had to leave Arkham, the Joker said.

“And, you know, I was just kidding” he said, smiling. “I’ll kill you anyway.”

The knife and fork were deeply spiked on the man’s neck, while the Joker stuffed his mouth with the straightjacket so he couldn’t scream.

“The joke’s on you, my friend!”

Pamela

Sometimes Harls seemed to be a well of bad ideas.

“Are you totally insane? Your madness is escalating quickly, Quinzel!”

“I need to try, Pamela!”

“Are you going to this freak’s house _ALL BY YOURSELF _and wait for him to show up and kill you?”

“He will not kill me! If the police take him back to Arkham, his punishment will be terrible. If he goes back by himself, they’ll be easier on him.”

“Great, why don’t you wait for _HIM_ to have this idea ALONE?”.

“Because I know that something happened. He’s not okay.”

“And you will not be okay, if you go there by yourself. Take the cops with you.”

“No, these pigs will beat him to death!”

“Then, I’ll go with you”, Pamela said, firmly.

“No, you won’t. You’ll be safe here. Those are my problems, I’ll fix them.”.

Pamela saw stubbornness on Harleen's eyes and she knew nobody wouldn't change her decision.

"You know, Harls, that mad love of yours will drive us all to the abyss.".


	7. Interlude

Harleen was curled up on the old, dirty bed, limbs intertwined with Arthur’s.

His breath was calm and steady, showing his deep state of sleep. She turned her head to him. Her fingertips traced his long and graceful facial features. He seemed to be in complete peace. She kissed his lips softly.

She looked at her wrist, reminding the pain the Joker made her go through. Everything that happened before felt like a complete madness out of reality.

Her whole world should be just this peaceful moment right now. Forever.

The distant noise of the sirens outside remembered her that chaos had been set in motion and it couldn’t be hold back. 


	8. Psycho Lovers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Joker, Arthur and Quinzel meet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long time no see! Don't give up on me or this fic! It'll be finished!

Psycho Lovers

_I've got a violence in my dreams_   
_I've got a makeup on my teeth_   
_We're all hysterical for love_   
_A love to lean on_

Psycho Lovers - Local Natives

Joker

Getting out of Arkham was too easy. He got a gun muffler from the guy he stole the clothes. He shot every nurse and every guard from Arkham that had ever done him any bad. He delivered to them a single smile and a wink before shooting them and blowing their fucking brains out.

He remembered everything. He remembered every time he was spanked inside there. He remembered every day that his food was thrown away from him with laughter. He remembered the hate and the fear. They smelled angry and fear, it came out of them through their eyes and their sweat and it resounded in each punch, each evil deed they did to him. That stupid Arthur just felt an overwhelming amount of sadness, remembering his childhood.

But the Joker felt angriness, a rage that he wanted to turn into action, changing it into fire, a fire that would consume that damned city.

Arthur cried, but the Joker didn’t.

He wanted to see Gotham burn.

Harleen

The streets were chaos. She couldn’t admit, but she was scared. It made her think of the riot nights back on the day Martha and Thomas Wayne died. The clown guys were all over town again. But they weren’t people legitimately angry, desiring to eat the rich. Those guys were now militia. They were someone’s territorial army. They were ravishing the city, burning the stores, destroying everything. Probably, they had been set up in motion by the news of Arthur’s escape.

She doubted the Joker himself had set them in motion. But she knew that both Arthur and the Joker were different entities coexisting, and she knew she couldn’t underestimate them.

Harleen’s thoughts were interrupted when the cab driver stopped in front of Arthur’s old and deceased building.

_It’s time_.

Joker

Harleen was wrong.

It was the Joker who had set the militias in motion. He knew the right places and the right people. He knew Cobbeplot, that penguin-like being, had appropriated from the masks and the riots for his own interests. He knew where to go, how to find them.

“Tell Cobbeplot, I’m back. Tell him I want to see this city burning. If this does not happen, he will burn instead.”, Joker said, fully impersonated and face-painted, few hours after escaping the asylum, entering one of Cobbeplot’s fake restaurant for money laundry.

Less than one hour after that, Gotham started to tremble.

Harleen

She was sitting on the couch. Waiting.

The place was still closed and surrounded by the yellow police warning. She was surprised there were no cops around. Of course she knew that they were trying to contain the chaos that the Joker had started.

She did not know what to do. She felt like she had made a wrong choice, a bad decision. She couldn’t count on the Joker coming back to his old house. It would be stupid, it was an obvious place.

Yet, something told her that he would go there. It was her gut, her inner instincts.

The Joker had not to do with that house, but Arthur had a lot of things there.

She would wait.

Joker

He had to go there.

The Joker wanted to burn that house to the ground. He wanted to kill Arthur.

Burning the house would give him the victory. He would bury all the material remembering of the Fleck family and that useless persona that had bring him to life.

He was going there, he was going to burn it all.

Harleen

She had fall asleep on the couch.

When the door opened, Harley opened her eyes.

The Joker was standing on the door, holding a gas gallon.

“Arthur!” she said, her blue eyes shining with hope, her voice exploding of happiness.

“Oh, it’s you. Arthur’s beloved doctor. Pleased to meet you, dollface.” He approximated her and Harleen froze. She wished she had bought a gun or something to defend herself. She felt like she was being stalked by a big feline. Even the way Joker moved was different from Arthur’s. He did resemble a panther, something majestic, hypnotic and profoundly scary and violent coming from him. Her eyes were fixated on the painting on his face and his fierce, almost brutally, maddened eyes. She wanted to run or to scream, but she didn’t. When he took her hand and kissed it, she slowly came back to her own mind.

“You know, dollface, I think you and I could have some fun before I burn this place to the ground with you on it”

Joker

Quinzel was a fucking beauty.

When he saw her inside the apartment, he felt something animal-like coming all over him and he could feel the boner on his paint. Now he understood Arthur’s foolishness over his doctor. It was a pity he had to kill her, she would be a lovely pet.

After kissing her hand, the Joker licked her fingers, tasting it. Quinzel seemed to be shocked. He took her wrists and kissed it, biting the exposed sking.

What was his surprise when she held the side of his head and grabbed him into a kiss. The thing escalated quickly and soon they were kissing-biting-licking every part of the other’s exposed sking. Her clothes fell off quickly. Soon her breasts were exposed and the Joker was ravishing them with violent biting, until one of Quinzel’s nipple started to bleed. She moaned, a mix of pain and pleasure, while he went back to her mouth to start a bloody kiss.

After that, she threw the rest of her clothes away. She pulled both of them down, laying under him on the couch. Soon he was hammering inside and out of her, while Harley moaned, her face smeared by his clown makeup. She screamed and kept biting his neck.

He felt his release coming and got out of her so he could spill it all over her body. The Joker let the fugacious feeling of satisfaction took him over, as he laid over her body, listening to the speed up beat of her heart.

“It’s a pity I have to kill you, dollface.”

Harleen

The next thing she knew was being tied up by him. It was all very quick. They fucked like animals (and the only thing she could use to explain the wave of burning desire that took her over was her animal stints) and then he said he needed to kill her. After that, a gun quickly came from his red jacket (_Why didn’t you took his clothes off too, Quinzel??!_), and she was the target. He took some steps and vanished on Arthur’s old room, telling her that he would blow her brains immediately if he listened to a single sound coming from the living room.

Then, he was tying her wrists brutally. The next thing was her legs.

“Don’t you dare to scream, dollface.”

“Arthur, please, let us talk”

“I’m not Arthur!”

“I don’t know what Crane did to you. Or what he told you. If it was about me, believe me” her voicing was trembling a little, but she tried to remember all the breathing techniques she learned to keep her control “Everything, everything was for you. Because I care about you. A lot.”

“I tell Arthur you care, dollface.”, he stopped tying her up and started to spread gasoline all over the things.

“Arthur, please…”, then, he slapped her.

“Next time, you call me Arthur, I’ll burn you first”, he said, angrily.

Then, Quinzel started to cry. The light crying evolved into a profoundly sad sobbing. She understood that Crane probably told him something and that her actions were the trigger for Joker’s dominion over Arthur. Since it was hard for Arthur to deal properly with his emotions, he just gave the control up to the one he believed could do better than himself.

“Please… Stop it… Please don’t…” her voice changed to a childlike tone that echoed her hidden sobs when her parents were downstairs fighting, screaming and talking about divorce.

Somehow, he stopped. 

Arthur

When listening to Harleen’s sobbing, Arthur came back. All the memories of his spanking when he was a child came back with her voice. Also, he remembered being beaten up by the kids when he worked as a clown. The powerful memory of pain drowned the Joker domination and Arthur felt like emerging from a cage and suddenly being aware of Harley and the apartment and the violence that the Joker was about to do.

“Dr. Quinzel, I’m… I’m sorry”, he said on a steady, ashamed tone. When he noticed that she was naked he avoided looking at her.

“Arthur? You are here?!” she said, stopping her sobbing “Please, untie me. Let’s talk.”

He did. He untied her and sat by her side, looking confused when noticing the gas gallon near them.

The next thing she knew was a crying Arthur, the tears breaking through his already smeared makeup. Then he was crying over her lap, on her naked thigh.

“It’s all right, Arthur. Let’s go take a shower. We’ll be just fine.”.


	9. Fountain of Youth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It ends.

_We can do whatever we want_

_We can say whatever we mean_

_And if we don't care_

_Then who cares?_

_We've been dreaming of you_

_Drinking from fountains of youth_

_And if we don't change_

_Then who will change?_

_We've been dreaming of you_

Foutain of Youth - Local Natives

Arthur seemed to be very sad and lost on his own thoughts. Since she had put him in the tub full of hot water, he did not say a single word.

Harleen bathed him carefully, rubbing his skin like a baby. His gaze was lost in the water, while the makeup left the skin and the paint left the hair, transforming the water into a colored matrix.

Soon enough, the silent ritual was over. She took him to Penny’s bedroom, laid him on the bed and came back to the bathroom so she could take her own bath.

When she returned, dressed in an old robe she found in the bathroom, he was still lying naked in the same fetal position that she let him, looking more vulnerable than ever.

She took off her robe and laid naked next to him. Arthur turned to her and faced Harleen.

"Sorry," he said, tears streaming down his face. "I only bring destruction to the people I love."

They made love.

It wasn’t a feral, animal-esque ting as what she did with the Joker.

They kissed for several minutes. Arthur was an awkward kisser, he mixed the kissing with intense biting on her mouth and it made her want to laugh, but she didn’t. She thought that he probably had never made love to a woman. Maybe, sex with prostitutes, but the act of making love with someone he loved seemed unlikely for a mentally ill loner like he was. So, she accepted the strange kisses and kissed him back with intensity.

The hands came after. He seemed to want to touch her whole body all at once. When he found the nice spot in the middle of her legs, Quinzel giggled and he started to play with it for a long time. For an inexperienced man, he was an audacious explorer and she was very pleased.

Then, she noticed his pounding erection. She touched it and asked him if she could taste his manhood. He gladly allowed. Then, it was her time to play happily with him. Arhur moaned and gave her some low-tone screams to make Harleen aware of the power of her ministrations.

Then, he asked to kiss her down there.

Harleen was very happy that he was an eager explorer.

They came together more times that she could remember. She had lost the track of time and she did not know how many hours they spent together. Arthur came inside her the last time and then got out of her to lay down by her side, hugging her waist to bring her close to his body.

The thought that she could not return him to Arkham came to her. They would probably make his conditions there way worse than before he escaped. Listening to the chaos outside reinforced the idea. The cops would beat him brutally and the people on Arkham would torture him endlessly.

Looking to the fragile man by his side, she knew what they had to do.

They had to run away together.

“Quinzel, you’re fucking insane!” Pamela told her “You know, there’s a lunatic in your bedroom and now you want me to help you to escape with him.”

“Yes, Pamela, you’re the only one I can ask help now”

“I should turn both of you to the cops.”

“Pamela, I know you have contact with not so clean people.” Quinzel remembered her, she knew that Pamela had obscure researches of her own with plants, ones that people on the Gotham Laboratory weren’t aware of.

Pamela rolled her eyes.

“Quinzel, okay. But you guys have to leave Gotham. For real.”

“It’s fine, I have been willing to go back to California, Red.” Quinzel answered with a smile.

Pamela had some great friends. They managed fake IDs for both Quinzel and Arthur. They were now miss and mister Kastle. Her name was Katherine and she even got her college documents with her new name. His name was Leaf Kastle, and he was a street artist from San Francisco. The unlikely couple had met one night on this town. Then, they decided to marry and to pursuit their new life together on the dreamland of California.

Convincing Arthur to get out of Gotham wasn’t hard. He told her that the city had given him enough suffering for one lifetime. Quinzel dyed her hair in a deep shade of black, becoming a brunette. Arthur shaved his head. Pamela’s friend also get them some stolen car for a cheap price. Before going, Pamela went to Arkham and got all of Quinzel’s prescribed medicines to Arthur.

Then, they left Gotham, through some unknown roads and got into their way to the city of Angels. 

Quinzel/Katherine got a job as a secretary at a large pharmaceutical company that specializes in pharmaceuticals for psychiatrists.

Arthur and Quinzel were happy and had peace.

She saw him transform, from a fragile and traumatized man to a human being aware of his actions. They had problems in the beginning, when Arthur resisted the drugs, thinking they would dope him like they did in Arkham. However, as Arthur learned to trust Harleen, that was no longer an issue.

Quinzel also thought that the routine of being truly loved and also returning to work with street art helped him to heal.

They had peace and it would last as long as it had to.

Quinzel convinced herself that if she ignored the nights when Arthur woke up laughing and looking at her with eyes that were not his, peace would last even longer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was supposed to be a more dark ending. I had thought they would have a more violent relationship. But my love for Margot and Joaquin didn't allow me to get anything else but this. Also, I want to write something thinking of Arthur on the world of Birds of Prey, which seems like something really fun to write.  
I hope you guys have enjoyed this ride.


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